Australian Politics

"It has become almost taboo in politics to suggest that not everyone is entitled to every government benefit," she said, declaring "a time of dependency" has eroded "our national character".

Still on about that whole "age of entitlement" thing?

While not naming specifics, she vowed to be "unrelenting" in cutting "low-value" government programs and promised to "help people off welfare and into self-reliance".

Didn't Mr Dutton make this same mistake? Promise to cut stuff but not name what he'd cut because he knew it'd be unpopular? It appears that Mr Dutton's deputy thought this was a good plan. It isn't. Tell us specifically what you want to cut. Particularly if you want more money to go to Defence. Tell us explicitly what you'd sacrifice to make that happen.

The overall vibe of her speech is that government subsidies are meant to be targeted and not applicable to all Australians. Which is a weird take for me. If you want us all to pay taxes, then we should all be entitled to the benefits we qualify for. Otherwise, what am I paying taxes for? I particularly liked the quote that "We are essentially running a peacetime economy on emergency fiscal settings. That is obviously not sustainable." I can't think of a better way to tell the electorate that you are out of touch with this cost of living crisis than this quote. You may not be feeling this fiscal emergency, but most Australians certainly are.